A light approach to grim issues

Public service ads are using humour to turn the spotlight on serious issues like sanitation and seatbelt use. The message: don't preach to reach.

| TNN | Jun 15, 2014, 06.41 AM IST

Remember Mukesh, the guy with oral cancer, and the tar-laden sponge which made all of us squirm in our cinema seats and want to throw up into our caramel-flavoured popcorn? Those two anti-tobacco campaigns used shock tactics to try and change people's behavior. But a series of public service advertisements are going in a new and humorous direction.

Among those making light of serious issues is the Seatbelt Crew, a short online film on seatbelt advocacy which shows transgenders channelling their inner air-hostesses at a Mumbai traffic signal. Then there's the anti-public defecation campaign video from Unicef that stars bouncy, animated turds and a catchy Take the Poo to the Loo song with fart noises. There is also an anonymous group called Clean Indian, who've filmed their experiment with an ominous-looking Pissing Tanker that unleashes water cannons on unsuspecting people caught peeing in public. The message? "You stop, we stop."

"Society is maturing. Now we need to get to the point without being sanctimonious," says Abhijit Avasthi, national creative director of Ogilvy India, the agency that co-created the Seatbelt Crew commercial with VithU, a safety app. The ad shows smartly-dressed transgenders explain the importance of wearing seatbelts to commuters at a red light. It's styled like an inflight safety announcement, with each line ending with their trademark taali. 'Naughty girls' and 'chikna mards' are asked to follow the rules and Avasthi claims the short film - with over four million views since it went online earlier this May - has clicked with audiences. "The conversation around seatbelts has increased," says Avasthi.

While the controversial Pissing Tanker has got more than two million views in the last three weeks, the Poo song has a comparatively modest six lakh-plus views on YouTube since its release in February, though like the Seatbelt Crew, it attracted global attention and media coverage. In their use of humour and inventive story-telling, they follow the likes of It's Your Fault, a darkly comic video by All-India Bakchod that mocked the absurdity of victimblaming for rape and Google's Reunion ad, which told a heartwarming story of two Partition-era friends.

Filmmaker Ketan Rana, who created the critically-acclaimed Dekh Le video which turned the camera on the male gaze after the Delhi gang-rape in December 2013, says it is not easy getting funding for these projects. His film didn't take off until Mumbai-based film school Whistling Woods International came on board. "It also helped that many people from Bollywood agreed to work for free," he says. It costs a minimum of five lakh to produce a professional film like Seatbelt Crew or Poo. "We engaged a full-fledged creative team as we wanted the message to reach people. Over 600 million Indians defecate in the open so we want to break the silence around water and sanitation issues," says Maria Fernandez, communications specialist, Unicef India.

While Unicef had an animation company and UK-based composer on board, Seatbelt Crew's transgender actors were assembled by a production team, which took inputs from them to fine-tune the script. It's also challenging to walk that thin line between comedy and tragedy to create a compelling storyline. "But if a filmmaker can do that, then the message hits the viewer," says Rana. Along with YouTube 'likes' and mobile app shares, there are enough signatories www.poo 2loo.com to petition the President of India to help end open defecation. The Pissing Tanker too has evoked strong emotions, with many calling it a violent response and waste of water.

Does levity make serious messages more effective? A study by Canadian researchers suggests that it might be better than fear because if people laugh at something, they are less likely to disagree with it. Brand expert Harish Bijoor feels some of these Indian videos are irreverent in their approach. "But if they help wake people's conscience, then they have served the purpose," he says.

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